DTD at MC #69

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Hello everybody!

Well it's interesting, here we are with email #69, and that is the year I graduated from High School. I still remember our "unofficial" class motto. I have no idea what the official one was however. "Sin, Sex, Booze and Wine, we're the class of '69." Do you remember your motto?

Karnea is over, and school is about to begin. Classes begin on August 25, and the undergrads are beginning to move back into the house. I stopped by this morning and ran into a few of the guys. They told me that we are expecting to begin the fall semester with 33 brothers returning. Several of last years freshman decided not to return to school for various reasons, something that happens at colleges and universities every year. We wish them the best in thier futures, and hope they stay in touch with us. Because now, guys, you are alumni!

The goal for recruitment for this year is 22 men. I was told that breaks down into 18 in the fall and 4 for the spring rush. So the undergrads have thier work cut out for them.

The last couple of days have been move in days for the freshmen, and the Delts were there to help out. They provided strong backs to help move the new students into the dorms. And while they were doing that, they got to meet a lot of the new freshmen men. That should help them with rush. Getting a headstart on the process. (oh, by the way, they got to meet the new freshmen women also!)

The Delts had some good news, from spring semester. I think I reported it earlier, but in case I didn't, or you missed it, the guys finished last semester with a 3.05 GPA. Bravo!

Oh! I almost forgot, Homecoming is in only 2 months. Two months and two days to be exact, and with homecoming, is our 40th anniversary. I hope that you have made your plans and are just waiting to send in your check. If that is the case, the cost is $50 per person, please send your check, made out to, Crescent Colony of Marietta, Inc. and send it to Bob Ferguson at **removed for privacy reasons**. I will be posting the schedule of events and the names of those people who have let us know they are coming at the end of this email.

I got the chance to see Rich Wolf last week, he was in the area to see his in-laws. We had dinner and swapped memories. It's funny how different things stick with you that others have forgotten. But when we told a story, the other one of us remembered the incident, even if we didn't recall it originally. That was fun.

There is still some commentary concerning the proposed new living quarters for the Delts. I got several notes from Rick Kramer and Todd Myers. Both of them had interesting suggestions as far as alternative housing for the chapter. I referred them to Ferg and Hartsy, but haven't heard anything back from either one of them since Karnea. Ferg said that they were planning on having some discussions with people from the central office, so we might have some better insight into the situation. When I hear something, I"ll let you all know.

Since the last email, I have gotten the addresses from some of the lost brothers. I wrote to them, but haven't heard anything back yet. None the less, welcome home guys! I hope you find time to share with us. The names and addresses are: Bruce Goldfarb, Gordon Turner, and Dean Kilton. If these guys are from your era and you know them, send them a note and get back in touch with an old friend.

I got Dean's information from Nick Aylward, EU's first chapter consultant. Evidently Dean wandered into the Central Office and was looking for information about EU and wanting to get back in touch with the fraternity. Here we are Dean, welcome!

Let's see who wrote since the last time. I received the following note from Bob Kavula. It was copied to me when he sent it to Cowboy Santini and Matt Sutko. I hope that he talked you two guys into coming. (I guess I'll have to call them and bug them).

OK,If I can drag my fat ass up from Dallas, certainly you guys can make it :) Especially you Cowboy.......We're arriving Thursday night and will be at the Townhouse for drinks. Staying at the Lafayette and will be there for the 30th thing on Friday night.

I went to my wife's 30th high school reunion last weekend and it was kind of fun and I didn't know anyone. It's a once in a lifetime chance guys to have the 40th Fraternity party and our 30th Class reunion.

Hope to see you both.

Todd Myers sent the following note in:



Rick,I plan to attend homecoming and will get my check into Fergie,
Thanks,Todd Myers '91

Chris Kurtz sent me the following note. In answer to your question about the sororities, they all own thier own houses I believe, so no they won't be moving into the type of arrangements we are talking about. And no, it will not be a problem if you bring your children. The whole weekend is open to everybody, with the exception of the initiation on Sunday.

Hello everyone, I am sorry I have not been reading all of the recent emails but I do appreciate receiving them. As I have been out of the loop, what is going on with the sororities? Are they being moved there as well?

I look forward to seeing everyone at homecoming. Rick please put me down for at least 1+ my wife Jessica. ( I might be bringing our 2 kids in tow, is that a problem? I've never come to a homecoming with kids so...)

My best to everyone, especially my brothers who I look forward to celebrating our 15th reunion together, Andy, Brian, J.P., Xan, Seth (hope you can make it, sorry to hear about your accident), Graham, Greg, Jimmy and Tony (does Tony come back to homecoming?)

All the best,Chris Kurtz
PS Join facebook, I have been able to reconnect with a bunch of folks from my MC days.

That's a long list of brothers he wants to see, are you all signed up? If not, what are you waiting for? Now I do have to admit feeling shock, hurt and betrayal that someone (other than my brother, Jim) actually says he doesn't read all of these things! How about you Shawn Selby? I haven't had any criticism of my writing skills for quite a while now. Am I getting better???

I got the following from Bruce Masatsugu, unfortunatly he won't be on the river cruise. All I can say is "Drive Faster, Bruce!" Just kidding, drive safely, and I'll catch up with you at the Town House! Of course you could take an earlier flight.

Rick, Thanks for all the updates.

It's been fun reading about all the experiences at DTD through the years. Couple of things. First, it'll be just me for the dinner on Saturday night so remove the "+1". Also, I haven't seen anything about a count for the river cruise, but I don't think I'll be able to make it. Baring any delays, I'm arriving in Columbus at 5:40 so I'll probably arrive in Marietta sometime after 8. I'll catch up with you after the cruise (Town House?)

Either call me at **removed** or give me your number and I'll call you sometime after 10. Looking forward to seeing everyone in a couple of months.

Bruce Masatsugu '75

Here are the names of the guys who will be making presentations at the banquet: Remember guys, keep it between 10 and 15 minutes, the subject matter should be about DTD and MC, and there will be ladies and perhaps children in the audience. If you are interested in speaking, let me know. There will be a computer there if you wish to do a power point... Speaking will be, Ken Kavula, Greg Maloof, Rich Wolf, Shawn Selby, Brian Rothenberg, Don Wolfe, Jordon Herrick, and Chris Goebel.

If anyone is in conact with Chris Goebel, please send me his phone number. He has evidently changed his email address, and I need to speak to him. Thanks.

That's all I have for this week. Time is getting short, and I'm getting pretty excited. I hope you are too.

Have a good weekend, Rick Neel '73

Thursday evening for early arrivals Meet and greet-Town House around 8:00

Friday The day will be free to see Marietta
Noon - Midnight Registration at DTD
8-10 pm Valley Gem river cruise-Bottom deck enclosed

Saturday9:00-9:25 Doughnuts and beverage at Delt House
9:30-10:15 Campus tours
10:30-11:00 507 Putnam visit
11:30-12:00 Parade
12:00-12:45 House Corp meeting
12:45-1:30 Tailgate at Stadium
1:30-4:30 Football game
6:00-7:00 Social Hour @ Shrine Club
7:00-12:00 Dinner, Program & Socialization (um, I think we mean Socializing. Socialization is the process of converting private property to state-owned property -- Shawn)

Sunday 9:00-10:00 Breakfast at Delt house
10:00-11:00 Ritual not at house
11:00-1:00 Alumni-Undergrad Football game
1:00- Free time

Delt 40th Anniversary Attendence List
Advisor - Bob Ferguson +1
1960's - Greg Maloof + 1, Ken Kavula +1, Frank Hirsch (I think), Steve Newton
1970's - Ted Smith +1, Lance Koved +1, Don Wolfe, Ron Rees, Bruce Miller +1, Bruce Masatsugu, Darrell Pritchard +1, Joe Matheny, Randy Williams, Rich Wolf +1, Bob Peterson, Al Head, Bob Kavula +1, Rick Dunsker, Peter Weiner +1, Chuck Robinson +1, Bob Burns, Rick Neel, Neal Mettler +?, Joe Mester +1, Bob Bayer +1, Rob Weidenfeld, John DeVito, Joe Kirby +1, Bob Exten +1, Scott Gilmore
1980's - Drew Kern, Jon Hartshorn, Brian Rothenberg, Chris Goebel, Michael Tita +1
1990's - Shawn Selby, J.P. Clowes, Matt Christman-Lees, Tim Cox, Greg Manko, Jeff DeWerth +1, Charley Maghes +1, Kevin Oliphant +1, Tracey Howard +1, Tim Parsons, Eric Gustafson, Chad Rhoads +1, Todd Myers, Chris Kurtz +1
2000's - Craig Sundstrom, Andy Byers +1, Justin Nethers, Matt Dole, Corey Medina, Casey Trail +1, Chris "Smitty" Smith, Seth Wolfson, Trent Elliott +1, Jordon Herrick, Jake Dornon +1, Ashley Woolam, Joshua Downey, Doug Orr +1, Jay Read, Matt Rouhier, Chris Lieb, Brian Ashton (I think), Trevor Brown

DTD at MC #68

Monday, August 18, 2008

Hello everyone,

I got the following note from Jeremy Dornon, giving me heck for my inability to spell! Sorry Jeremy, it's fixed and I'll try not to do it again! I'm going to enjoy meeting the Delt Legacy you will be bringing.

Rick...As always, love receiving the updates in the inbox. Just a quick note, I am still attending the 40th, but I will be bringing someone, so please note me as +1 on the attendees list. Also, when you update the attendees list, my last name is spelled 'Dornon' not 'Dornan'. Nothing major, just fyi! Can't wait to kicking back at the TH with the brothers, and letting the majority of the guys meet my 2 yr old son, Braxton. Also a future Delt. :)

Tim Cox sent me the following note. I had him listed as an "I think" on the attendees list. Here he makes it official.

Hey Rick, Just wanted to let you know that I will definitely be attending the 40th festivities. What are the exact dates again?

Thanks,Tim CoxClass of '99

I answered Tim directly with the dates, but here they are along with the cost involved. Homecoming is October 24-26. And the cost is $50 per person attending. Please make your check payable to Crescent Colony of Marietta, Inc Send it to Bob Ferguson, **removed for privacy reasons** I hope to see many of you there.

Chad Rhodes sent me this note, he'll be there, how about you?

Rick, I'll be at the 40th, along with my wife, Krista. We've got the hotel reservations and the check will be in the mail shortly. I'm looking forward to meeting you and others and to catching up with old friends. Thanks for all of your work on the newsletter.

Chad Rhoads Class of 1995

Murray Talasnik sent me the following note. I suggested that he contact the alumni office, if any of you have a better suggestion for him, please drop him a line.

Hi all.
I was recently unpacking some long lost boxes and found some of my old Marietta College yearbooks. Unfortunately, I seem to have lost the 1971 yearbook, the year of my graduation. If anyone has any idaes about how I might find a replacement, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks.
Murray Talasnik, class of 1971



I got this email from Hartsy, President of House Corp., concerning our meeting last week with the college about housing options. First of all, let me say that I received many very good replies last time I wrote. To all of you "Thank you." Your feelings were presented to the college by me when we met.

After some thought and further conversation with Ferg and Andy Longo, here's how I see our realistic options:

#1) We stay where we are as long as we can, and when we get word we have to leave, we look again at options.
#2) Let MC know that we are OK with the moving to the new residence hall, and wait to see what we get.
#3) Find a way to get some money into the new residence hall project, and continue to partner with the college.

There are other possibilities, but I see them all as variations of the above.

Right now I slightly favor #2 over #3, with #1 a distant 3rd. My stance on #3 could improve if I knew more about how we could get some form of equity stake in the residence hall. I lean toward #2 thinking that there may be more options in a few years, more time for fundraising, and in the mean time we have decent housing.

I'd be higher on #1 if we owned 219 4th right now. As Andy mentioned to me, we have no property to sell or rent if we just let the college move us.

The down side of #2 is that if we don't like what we get, we may be back to moving again in a few years.

That's all for now. See you guys soon.
Jon Hartshorn, ASQ CMQ/OE


Today, I sat down with Fergie and using Hartsy's email as a basis for discussion, put together the following thoughts.

From our talk with the college, they are planning on spending $200 a square foot to build the new residence hall. That means for us to have a 5000 sq ft house of our own, it would cost us $1,000,000. I don't see that happening, do you?

Secondly, the college is about $30,000,000 in debt, so this building is probably our only opportunity for new quarters in the forseeable future. Several thoughts came to mind as we were barnstorming, here are some of them in no particular order.

Fraternity size comes and goes. In 2000 we had 4 or 5 members, in 2006 we had 50, in 2008 we will start with 30+. We have been up and down for our entire history (as have all the other fraternities). So where will we be in 5 years? How about 10? It is impossible to know, but if we have our own house, we will have to pay for it. That means members, it would be a terrible thing (to my mind) to have to recruit men just to fill a house, not because they are quality people.

Right now, DTD is held in pretty high regard by the administration of the college. Who is to say what the case will be in 5 or 10 years. The people in charge with MC are in thier late 50's and early 60's. Perhaps thier replacements will be progreek, but maybe not. What do we do then?

Next, Lynne Miller, in her email said that the college was planning on providing the chapter with "adequate space" for meeting rooms and storage for our ritual equipment. The meeting mentioned that the college figured on 15 sq. ft. per student. If we figure the Delts get a membership of 60, that would give us 900 sq. ft. in public area. Of course we don't have 60 members. The college did seem receptive to our needs for more room however. It may become necessary for us to contribute if we wish for more space than they plan on for us. Right now, in the 4th St. Shelter, the back room (as best we could tell from outside) appears to be 32x23 (736 sq ft) for the chapter room and 32x42 (1344 sq ft) for the total addition. As I write that, it doesn't seem right. The total is close to accurate, not sure on the chapter room.

Unfortunately, we were ncluded in this discussion just recently, and as the discussion unfolded, it became pretty obvious that we should have been included 6 months ago, so we could have been better prepared. As of the time of our meeting, the college hadn't been able to arrange anything with the LCA so we don't know what thier thinking on this subject is.

When House Corp first began the discussion on this subject, our best thought was having our fraternity house on the front of a building and a dorm behind it. Actually that is what the college is proposing. We will have our own entrance at one end of the new hall, with our letters above the entrance. Beds for approximately 15 members (that is negotiable - but keep in mind, we weren't able to fill the house we have this year), dedicated outdoor space like we have now, for volleyball, etc., semi-private bathrooms (a definate improvement from what we have now), etc.

To reiterate what Hartsy said, here are the options I see for us.

#1 - Building of our own. The cost would be about $1 million. We don't have that much, and the cash flow options don't appear to make it workable. Even if we could get $300,000 from members (that's $750 each from 400 members - which we don't have yet) it still wouldn't work. And that is assuming we could get the land from Marietta College.

#2 - Stay where we are. Assuming that the college finds that our house is usable for the next 10 years at a reasonable cost, what happens in 10 years? That house won't last forever, as much as we would like it to. Remember, the college owns the house, they can decide it isn't cost effective at any time.

#3 - Move to a house on 4th St. (like the ATO's are in). They sleep 60. Do we want to have people sharing the house that aren't Delts? Remember, we have never had 60 in our history. It's an option, the college likes us right now.

#4 - Work with the college, move into the new residence hall and make it our own. This may cost us some money (probalbly will) to get enough common space to serve our needs.

#5 - Something else. There is always another option that hasn't been thought of.

My biggest concern is that we keep a level playing field. The ATO's will stay where they are, on 4th St. The assumption is that the DU's will be back in 2011, and they will be back in thier house. Will that put us at a competitive disadvantage?

Sorry this is so long. But I felt it needed to be. See you in October!

Have a great week. Rick Neel '73